In a co-production with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, directed by Neil Armstrong, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Sweeney Todd made his debut on the stage of the Royal Opera House in December last year. Finishing its run last week, its success can only be described as mixed. The critics have certainly given it a bashing on both sides of the Atlantic. Firstly questioning whether Sweeney Todd is in fact an opera at all, and secondly whether it is appropriate for it to be gracing the stages of two of the mostly highly revered opera houses in the world.